Maid in England by Brenda St John Brown

Author:Brenda St John Brown [St John Brown, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-04T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

When Vera arrives at my house at 8:05 on Tuesday morning, I’m already showered, dressed, and packed with a glazed donut in hand. It’s not as good as I remember a donut being, but it’s not bad either. Vera furrows her brow at me and says, “Good morning. Thanks for the day off yesterday. It was a nice surprise. How was your weekend?”

“Awful, actually. How was yours?”

“It was fine.” Vera’s tone turns tentative. “Is everything okay?”

“I think it will be, yes. I’m going back up to Fenchurch this afternoon, but I need to know if you remember which estate agent was here last week?” I take another small nibble of the donut in my hand. “And how are you, by the way?”

“I’m good. The usual.” The furrow between Vera’s brow deepens. “You’re eating a donut. Not to sound cheeky, but that worries me?”

“It’s fine. I’m…” Not going to explain my current state of mind to Vera when I can barely explain it to myself. “…trying to turn over a new leaf. It’s very…new”

“Yeah.” Vera takes in my clothes – skinny jeans, a sheer off-the-shoulder long silver cardigan with a white camisole underneath, and my black ballet flats – and nods. “That’s a great look. And that jumper is fab. Is it French Connection UK?”

“Yes. I took yesterday off to go shopping.” I hit Regent Street. And Oxford Street. And Soho. Retail therapy is not to be underestimated. Especially when the shop assistant in French Connection insists you can – and should – wear anything you damn well please because you’ve got the figure for it. If it were warmer in this country, I bet she could have talked me into a midriff-baring dress, so thank you, Mother Nature, for helping me make good choices.

“It suits you. And the donut suits you too, oddly enough.” Vera says. “Don’t let Rex catch you with that.”

“That’s the other thing I needed to tell you.” This part is trickier. “Rex won’t be staying here. I don’t want him or Jed here while I’m gone. I’ll be sure I make that clear with both of them before I leave.”

Vera’s eyes widen. “Why? What happened?”

“I’m not sure, but it feels like we’re at a crossroads.” I take a deep breath before I say the rest because I thought long and hard about this yesterday as I walked around London, ignoring texts from both Jed and Rex, and decided it was the only fair thing to do. “I’m not sure how things are going to end up, but I don’t think updating your CV would be a bad thing.”

“Am I being fired?” Vera asks.

“Not at all.” I kick myself for bringing it up because I probably won’t have an assistant by the time I get back. “It’s nothing to worry about right now, but I don’t want to blindside you if things suddenly go awry.”

“I appreciate that.” Vera’s expression is pinched.

Now I’m really kicking myself and I slide into work talk like a comfortable shoe. “Also,

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